Playing Jax

We have B&C’s first-ever Market Eye profile of Jacksonville coming out in Monday’s issue. DMA #47 sounds like a lively place–beaches everywhere, a growing population, and a lot younger marketplace than what one might expect from Florida. As one GM told me, the transplants come to Jacksonville not so much to retire, but to live the bulk of their years.Station-wise, it’s a unique set-up: ABC and NBC in one building, CBS and Fox in another, and an unaffiliated station in WJXT as the market leader. (GM Bob Ellis says don’t call it an “independent.”)

Jacksonville also has a lively music scene whose forefathers include Lynyrd Skynyrd, those guys from Kansas (yes, the Kansas guys apparently now live in Florida), and Limp Bizkit knucklehead Fred Durst.

WCWJ attempts to capture that music scene with YourJax Music, which features studio performances from local musicians at 10 p.m. Saturdays. “There’s a pretty rich music history coming out of Jacksonville,” says VP/GM Marc Hefner, “and we’re showcasing it.”